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  • Amy Ivy is executive director of Cornell Cooperative Extension, Clinton County. Office phone numbers: Clinton County 561-7450, Essex County 962-4810, Franklin County 483-7403. Website: http://www.cce.cornell.edu/ecgardening. E-mail questions to askMG@cornell.edu

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January 16, 2012

Erratic winter weather stresses plants

AMY IVY, Cornell Cooperative Extension Press-Republican

If you think you're having a hard time deciding what to wear when you head out in the morning, just think of the outoor plants.

One day it's below zero, a day later it's in the 30s, then it's wet, it's dry, it's windy. The weather has been all over the place so far this winter. I marvel at how trees, shrubs, perennial flowers and our lawns survive it.

When you go to purchase a plant for your yard or garden, one of your first considerations is whether or not it is winter hardy in our climate. But winter hardiness refers to the minimum temperature the plant can tolerate. That's actually only a part of the challenge to surviving our winters.

If plants can gradually slow down and adjust to the dropping temperatures, they usually do fine. Then, once they're good and chilled, they do well when they stay that way. A plant that has adjusted to ten degrees can more easily handle a dip down to below zero than can a plant that has adjusted to temperatures only in the 30s.

As long as you're looking at a plant that is rated to be hardy to our region, it's not the minimum temperature that affects them as much as it is the abrupt changes in temperatures.

A plant hardy to zone 4 (http://blogs.cornell.edu/horticulture/hardiness-zones/) can take temperatures as low as minus 25, but that's assuming the change was gradual. That same plant might be injured when the temperature drops to just below zero, if it happens quickly enough.

This type of injury is most common on the trunks and main branches of trees, causing cracks to form that can later be a site where infection enters. It can also cause twigs and flower buds to die, but these will eventually regrow in a year or two.

Overall, our weather this winter has been mild. With no snow cover though, when temperatures drop, the ground readily freezes. If we had a good blanket of snow on the ground first, it would insulate the ground.

Lack of snow cover has more effect on the roots and crowns of the plants. For many types of shrubs and perennials, as long as the roots survive the plant can generate new growth the following spring. For most trees and some tree-like shrubs this is impossible.

Another challenge to our weather this winter, at least where I live in the Champlain Valley, is that the ground was saturated with water when it froze, so now there are blocks of ice around plant roots.

Snow is good for plants, ice is bad. There's not a thing you can do about it, of course, but it does help to notice these things now so that in case you notice dieback or weaker growth next spring, you'll have a better understanding of why.

I have a long perennial flower bed and for the first few years, one end was lower than the other. Rain and runoff from the driveway would pool at this end of the garden and the perennials never did as well there.

Finally, one spring I lifted all the perennials from that end of the garden, and added enough rich topsoil, compost and rotted manure to raise the level. I replanted the perennials and they took off. They loved the richly amended soil and their roots could breathe and thrive with the better drainage. Make some notes now about what you might do when Spring returns.

Amy Ivy is a Executive Director with Cornell Cooperative Extension. Office phone numbers: Clinton County 561-7450, Essex County 962-4810, Franklin County 483-7403. Web site: www.cce.cornell.edu/ ecgardening. E-mail questions to askMG@cornell.edu

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